19 March History
- 1687 - The French explorer La Salle is murdered in by his own men while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
- 1702 - On the death of William III of Orange, Anne Stuart, sister of Mary, succeeds to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland.
- 1822 - Boston is incorporated as a city.
- 1879 - Jim Currie opens fire on the actors Maurice Barrymore and Ben Porter near Marshall, Texas. His shots wound Barrymore and kill Porter.
- 1903 - The U.S. Senate ratifies the Cuban treaty, gaining naval bases in Guantanamo and Bahia Honda.
- 1916 - The First Aero Squadron takes off from Columbus, NM to join Gen. John J. Pershing and his Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa in Mexico.
- 1917 - The Adamson Act, eight hour day for railroad workers, is ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
- 1918 - Congress authorizes Daylight Savings Time.
- 1920 - The U.S. Senate rejects the Versailles Treaty for the second time.
- 1924 - U.S. troops are rushed to Tegucigalpa as rebel forces take the Honduran capital.
- 1931 - The state of Nevada legalizes gambling.
- 1935 - The British fire on 20,000 Muslims in India, killing 23.
- 1936 - The Soviet Union signs a pact of assistance with Mongolia against Japan.
- 1944 - The German 352nd Infantry Division deploys along the coast of France.
- 1945 - Adolf Hitler orders a scorched-earth policy for his retreating German armies in the west and east.
- 1947 - Chiang Kai-Shek's government forces take control of Yenan, the former headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party.
- 1949 - The Soviet People's Council signs the constitution of the German Democratic Republic, and declares that the North Atlantic Treaty is merely a war weapon.
- 1963 - In Costa Rica, President John F. Kennedy and six Latin American presidents pledge to fight Communism.
- 1977 - Congo President Marien Ngouabi is killed by a suicide commando.
- 1981 - One technician is killed and two others are injured during a routine test on space shuttle Columbia.
19 March Birthdays
- 1589 - William Bradford, governor of Plymouth colony for 30 years.
- 1721 - Tobias George Smollett, satirical author and physician (Roderick Random, Humphrey Clinker).
- 1813 - David Livingston, explorer found by Arthur Stanley in Africa.
- 1821 - Sir Richard Burton, English explorer.
- 1848 - Wyatt Earp, U.S. marshal.
- 1849 - Alfred von Tirpitz, Prussian admiral who commanded the German fleet in early World War I.
- 1860 - William Jennings Bryan, orator, statesman, known as "The Great Communicator."
- 1889 - Sarah Gertrude Millina, South African writer (The Dark River, God's Stepchildren).
- 1891 - Earl Warren, governor of California, later 14th Supreme Court Chief Justice.
- 1904 - John J. Sirica, U.S. Federal Judge who ruled on Watergate issues.
- 1906 - Adolf Eichman, Nazi Gestapo officer.
- 1912 - Adolf Galland, German Luftwaffe pilot.
- 1925 - Brent Scrowcroft, Lt. Gen. (USAF), National Security Advisor to President George H.W. Bush.
- 1933 - Phillip Roth, American novelist and short-story writer (Portnoy's Complaint).